DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, filed with respect to the prior art rejections have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that the combination of Ozaki, Wakisaka, and Masuo fails to teach an electromagnetic open-close valve connected to the high-pressure flow path having the specific structure and provided at the specific position in the flow paths as recited in claim 16 as amended. Examiner finds this non-persuasive since Ozaki teaches art-recognized substitution of the valve mechanism mapped to the claim with an electromagnetic open-close type valve mechanism (see new grounds of rejection, necessitated by Amendment). Absent additional arguments regarding why the combination fails to teach the specific structure and provided at the specific position in the flow paths beyond the addition of the electromagnetic open-close valve type, Examiner cannot find Applicant’s arguments persuasive. Accordingly, the rejections are maintained, modified as necessitated by Amendment, below.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 16, 6, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ozaki (EP-0837291-A2: previously cited) in view of Wakisaka (US-20150020540-A1) and Masuo (JP2009063220A: cited by Applicant, translation provided by Applicant).
Regarding claim 16, Ozaki discloses a refrigeration apparatus (refrigeration system, abstract Fig 2) having: a heat source unit including a compressor (Fig 2 compressor #1) and a heat source-side heat exchanger (Fig 2 heat emitter #2); a utilization unit including a utilization-side heat exchanger (Fig 2 evaporator #7); and a connection pipe connecting the heat source unit and the utilization unit to each other (Fig 2 conduit #27), the refrigeration apparatus including a refrigerant circuit (refrigerant circuit depicted in Fig 2, including #27, #27-1, and #28) configured to perform a refrigeration cycle in which a pressure above a critical pressure is applied to a refrigerant (Fig 1, col 2 lines 10-15),
the refrigeration apparatus comprising:
at least one high-pressure flow path through which the refrigerant at high-pressure in the refrigerant circuit flows (see annotated Fig A); and
a valve mechanism (Fig 2 pressure reducer #3/#4) connected to the high-pressure flow path (Fig 2 pressure reducers #3 and #4 connected to high pressure flow path, see annotated Fig A), wherein the valve mechanism includes (col13 lines 2-4: “The pressure reducer 3 may have a construction which is substantially identical with the pressure reducer 3”, note: it is evident from Ozaki that the second instance of “pressure reducer 3” should read “pressure reducer 4”):
a valve body (Fig 3 needle valve #45); a first flow path (Fig 3 #43); a second flow path (Fig 3 combination of #42 and #44); and a driver (Fig 3 step motor #46),
the driver (Fig 3 step motor #46) is configured to move the valve body (Fig 3 needle valve #45) to a first position where the valve body closes the first flow path (col 12 lines 44-49, col 12-13 lines 55-01: first position corresponds to “fully closed condition”) and a second position where the valve body opens the first flow path (col 12 lines 44-49, col 12-13 lines 55-01: second position corresponds to “fully opened condition”); and
the second flow path (Fig 3 combination of #42 and #44) is configured to communicate with the first flow path when the valve body is at the second position (col 12 lines 41-43, col 12-13 lines 55-01), and
Ozaki also discloses permitting the refrigerant to flow through the second flow path and first flow path of the valve mechanism in this order (col 12 lines 35-41).
Ozaki dose not disclose the first flow path extends in an axial direction of the valve body so as to overlap the valve body when viewed from the axial direction, where the axial direction is a direction the valve body is driven to move from the first position to the second position.
Wakisaka teaches a second flow path (Wakisaka Fig 2 first refrigerant pipe 31), and a first flow path (Wakisaka Fig 2 second refrigerant pipe 32) extends in an axial direction of a valve body (Wakisaka Fig 2 valve member 40) so as to overlap the valve body when viewed from the axial direction (see annotated Fig C), where the axial direction is a direction the valve body is driven to move from the first position to the second position (Wakisaka par 0029).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide the system of Ozaki with the first flow path extends in an axial direction of the valve body so as to overlap the valve body when viewed from the axial direction, where the axial direction is a direction the valve body is driven to move from the first position to the second position: that is using the known technique of arranging the outlet (first) flow path extending in the axial direction and the second flow path arranged perpendicular to the axial direction, as taught by Wakisaka, to provide the system of Ozaki with wherein the first flow path extends in an axial direction of the valve body so as to overlap the valve body when viewed from the axial direction, where the axial direction is a direction the valve body is driven to move from the first position to the second position, would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art (see KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 415-421, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395-97 (2007)) and would provide the benefit of preventing the fluid from exerting upward pressure on the valve body as a result of fluid flow which may hinder the operation of the valve body.
Ozaki does not disclose wherein the at least one high-pressure flow path includes a check valve configured to permit the refrigerant to flow through the second flow path and first flow path of the valve mechanism in this order and prohibit the refrigerant from flowing through the first flow path and the second flow path in this order.
Masuo teaches wherein a high-pressure flow path (see annotated Fig B) includes a check valve (Masuo Fig 1 and Fig 2, see check valve 17a or 17b enabling flow in one direction across valve 16a or 16b respectively).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide the system of Ozaki with wherein the at least one high-pressure flow path includes a check valve configured to permit the refrigerant to flow through the second flow path and first flow path of the valve mechanism in this order and to prohibit the refrigerant from flowing through the first flow path and the second flow path in this order, as taught by Masuo, as doing so would improve the system of Ozaki by incorporating a mechanism that would prevent backflow which in turn helps protect refrigerant equipment such as pipes, pumps, other valves etc.
Ozaki does not disclose wherein the refrigerant circuit switches to a first refrigeration cycle in which the heat source-side heat exchanger serves as a radiator and the utilization-side heat exchanger serves as an evaporator and a second refrigeration cycle in which the utilization-side heat exchanger serves as a radiator and the heat source-side heat exchanger serves as an evaporator, the at least one high-pressure flow path comprises a first high-pressure flow path and a second high-pressure path, the first and second high-pressure flow paths are connected in parallel to constitute a parallel circuit, each of the first and second high-pressure flow paths is connected to the valve mechanism and the check valve, and the high-pressure refrigerant flows through the first high-pressure flow path in the first refrigeration cycle, and the high-pressure refrigerant flows through the second high-pressure flow path in the second refrigeration cycle, an entirety of the first high-pressure flow path and an entirety of the second high-pressure flow path are independent of each other.
Masuo further teaches wherein a refrigerant circuit (Masuo see refrigeration circuit in Fig 1 and Fig 2) switches to a first refrigeration cycle in which the heat source-side heat exchanger (Masuo Fig 1/2 first heat exchanger #12) serves as a radiator and the utilization-side heat exchanger (Masuo Fig 1/2 second heat exchanger #14) serves as an evaporator (Masuo configuration in Fig 1, see arrows depicting flow) and a second refrigeration cycle in which the utilization-side heat exchanger (Masuo Fig 1/2 second heat exchanger #14) serves as a radiator and the heat source-side heat exchanger (Masuo Fig 1/2 first heat exchanger #12) serves as an evaporator (Masuo see configuration in Fig 2, see arrows depicting flow), the at least one high-pressure flow path (see annotated Fig B) comprises a first high-pressure flow path and a second high-pressure path (annotated Fig B), the first and second high-pressure flow paths are connected in parallel to constitute a parallel circuit (annotated Fig B), each of the first and second high-pressure flow paths is connected to the valve mechanism (annotated Fig B; Masuo Fig 1/2 expansion valves 16a and 16b) and the check valve (annotated Fig B, 16a is directly connected to the first high pressure flow paths and CV4 is connected to the second high pressure flow path via first liquid pipe #71), and the high-pressure refrigerant flows through the first high-pressure flow path in the first refrigeration cycle (annotated Fig B and see arrows in Masuo Fig 1), and the high-pressure refrigerant flows through the second high-pressure flow path in the second refrigeration cycle (annotated Fig B and see arrows in Masuo Fig 2) and
an entirety of the first high-pressure flow path and an entirety of the second high-pressure flow path are independent of each other (Masui Fig 1/2 and annotated Fig B, flow paths of the first flow path and the second flow path do not overlap).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to provide the system of Modified Ozaki with wherein the refrigerant circuit switches to a first refrigeration cycle in which the heat source-side heat exchanger serves as a radiator and the utilization-side heat exchanger serves as an evaporator and a second refrigeration cycle in which the utilization-side heat exchanger serves as a radiator and the heat source-side heat exchanger serves as an evaporator, the at least one high-pressure flow path comprises a first high-pressure flow path and a second high-pressure path, the first and second high-pressure flow paths are connected in parallel to constitute a parallel circuit, each of the first and second high-pressure flow paths is connected to the valve mechanism and the check valve, and the high-pressure refrigerant flows through the first high-pressure flow path in the first refrigeration cycle, and the high-pressure refrigerant flows through the second high-pressure flow path in the second refrigeration cycle and an entirety of the first high-pressure flow path and an entirety of the second high-pressure flow path are independent of each other, as taught by Masuo, as doing so would improve the system of Modified Ozaki as one of the advantages of using heat exchangers as both an evaporator or a condenser is being able to defrost a cooling heat exchanger that has accumulated ice without the need of electric heaters and having the valve mechanism facilitates directing the flow in the proper configuration to enable the dual operations of the heat exchangers.
Ozaki does not disclose, in the same embodiment, that the valve mechanism is an electromagnetic open-close valve.
However, Ozaki further discloses, in reference to another embodiment that it is art recognized to replace a step motor (as in the relied upon embodiment) with an electromagnetic valve (see at least “However, in place of the step motor 412, a mere ON-OFF type electromagnetic valve can be used.”).
It would, therefore, have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to provide the valve mechanism as an electromagnetic open-close valve, since, as taught in the other embodiment of Ozaki, such provision was known in the art and would provide the predictable benefits of simplifying operation and allowing for the potential of greater refrigerant capacity duty cycle variation (see at least Ozaki column 19, lines 15-25).
Regarding claim 6, Modified Ozaki further discloses wherein the refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit comprises carbon dioxide (Ozaki col 1 lines 5-10).
Regarding claim 18, Modified Ozaki further discloses wherein the first flow path (Wakisaka Fig 2 refrigerant pipe 32) is configured to face an axial end of the valve body that is in the first position (Wakisaka Fig 2 depicts a closed position), and the second flow path (Wakisaka Fig 2 refrigerant pipe 31) is configured to face an outer peripheral surface of the valve body that is in the first position (Wakisaka, see annotated Fig C).
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Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAVIA SULLENS whose telephone number is (571)272-3749. The examiner can normally be reached M-R 6:30-4:30 Eastern.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jianying Atkisson can be reached at 571-270-7740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TAVIA SULLENS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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